Everything you need to know about the world but never learned.Who killed the dead sea?...Where was the garden of Eden?...What's so bad about the badlands?

The author of the critically acclaimed national bestseller Don't Know Much About History now takes us on a fascinating, breathtaking and hilarious grand tour of the planet Earth—opening our eyes and imaginations to a wide, wild, and wonderful world we never knew. ( )

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This was just the book I was looking for. Geography is a science not just of place names and boundaries, but of politics and culture and environment and history. I learned tons about exploration and wars and colonization and weather and climate and more, all in bite-sized chunks that somehow managed to be very accessible without talking down to the reader. I never felt embarrassed by my lack of knowledge, and it opened my eyes to a number of subjects I never knew could be interesting. Definitely recommended as a solid introduction. ( )

The author has issued a 2013 revised and expanded edition of this 1992 book for several reasons. One is of course that the geographical arrangement of the world has changed quite a bit in that time. A second is the dismal state of knowledge among Americans about geography generally. (For example, a study in 2006 of Americans aged 18 to 24 found that two-thirds cannot find Louisiana on a U.S. map and two in ten cannot even point to the Pacific Ocean on a world map.) Another is that he sees a need to counter what he describes as “a concerted attack on science” in America during the past twenty years. In particular, he wants to address some beliefs widely held but anathema to scientists.

Davis observes that a 2012 Gallup survey found that 46% of Americans believe in the creationist view that God created humans in their present form, and within the last 10,000 years. He also cites the related widespread belief in “intelligent design” - i.e., the notion that the natural world exhibits such heights of beauty and functionalism that it must, ipso facto, demonstrate the hand of God rather than the rational outcome of evolutionary processes. On both of these accounts, Davis takes us through the geological and anthropological data that can be found right beneath our feet. Nevertheless, religious groups have exercised a great deal of financial and political clout to ensure that schools teach alternative theories to creation and evolution.

Third, he seeks to show the evidence demonstrating, in contradistinction to the beliefs of many, the reality of global warning. Each of these three beliefs, he avers, is grounded in theology, not science. Why have they endured in spite of so much irrefutable scientific evidence?

Davis suggests that media pundits as well as think tanks, special interest groups funded by fossil fuel and related industries, and activist conservative groups have engaged in a concerted campaign to raise doubts about the truth of global warming and to influence schools to teach “alternative theories” to evolution. By sharing with us about what a study of geography reveals and by taking us on a tour of the earth past, present, and future, the author hopes to show us - to the contrary - what science actually teaches us about the world.

You may wonder, what does geography have to do with evolution and global warming? Quite a bit, as it happens. In terms of global warming, the “friendliness” of the Earth to living beings is very much influenced by Earth’s surface temperature. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is full of bad news in this regard.

"Climate disruptions put our food and water supply at risk, endanger our health, jeopardize our national security, and threaten other basic human needs. Some impacts—such as record high temperatures, melting glaciers, and severe flooding and droughts—are already becoming increasingly common across the country and around the world.”

There is much more to geography, and much more to this book. The author gives us a history of geographical exploration, and tells us all about oceans and continents and rivers and deserts. Most importantly, he manages to make it all interesting and humorous.

My favorite parts of the book are the Q&A sections interspersed throughout the text, posing questions everyone always wants to know, along with the answers: Was there an Atlantis? Was there a Troy? What’s so bad about the Badlands? Why are there no deserts on the Equator? And what is a desert, anyway? What is the origin of names like Canary Islands, Sandwich Islands, the Black Sea, and the Red Sea? What’s the Mercator projection? Are there really elephants in the Alps? What are the Seven Wonders of the World and where did they go?

Davis makes science more like a game show than hard work, and if you are listening to the audio, 13 hours of fascinating facts.

Evaluation: This book (to which I listened on audio) never lost my interest until the appendices, which contain, for example, lists of weights and measures. These items would be nice to have in a hardbound book, but I’m not sure it was necessary to read them aloud! (Then again, “unabridged” is unabridged!) But otherwise, the audio version is perfect for listening to on car trips, because much of what Davis discusses will be appearing right before your eyes! And there is a lot that is fun and astounding (especially given the apparent low level of knowledge about geography generally), that will provide you and other passengers with lots to talk about! ( )

I'll be honest with you...I haven't finished this one yet. I just kept falling asleep whenever I tucked myself into bed to read! But that's my only complaint about the book: it's not good bedtime reading unless you suffer from insomnia. The content is great and simply, yet engagingly, explained. What's fun about geography is that it's so tied up with history that you can't help but learning more than one subject at once. Davis also throws in the occasional amusing personal anecdote, so that it doesn't feel like your old high-school textbook that, if it tried to engage you, it did so with only-a-geologist-could-have-written-it puns on the Earth's "crust", etc. I just hope I find time to finish this at some point during the day! ( )

Wikipedia in English

You might think you need to look at a map to learn "everything you need to know" about geography, but Kenneth C. Davis proves otherwise. In this hugely entertaining and informative program, Davis takes a different approach to learning about the world by pointing out its relevance--and importance--in every sphere of human life. Geography, Davis explains, has been sadly misunderstood, which accounts for the fact that Americans consistently score lowest among peoples of industrialized nations when it comes to "knowing where we are." He sets out to show listeners how this "mother lode of sciences, the hub of a circle from which all the other studies radiate" informs disciplines ranging from meteorology, climatology, and oceanography to economics, ecology, and political science. Rather than looking at geography as a parade of facts about where things are located, he encourages an approach that considers human and natural history in its larger context--and the universe as a large canvas upon which the fascinating story of life is drawn. Using his familiar question-and- answer method, Davis offers interesting anecdotes to explain, for example, who invented the compass; why wars are always fought over geography; the differences between country, republic, nation, and state; why the tallest mountain in the world is getting even taller; and much more. Succinct discussions coupled with Davis's lively writing style makes this a perfect candidate for audio presentation. Indeed, listening to this program without the aid of visuals underscores the sense conveyed that geography is as much about how we think about the world as where things are in physical space--that it is about the "tender connections that keep the earth alive." (Running time: three hours, two cassettes) --Uma Kukathas